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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has handed down a one-month deadline to Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, to meet the demands of marketers in the state.
Failure to do so will result in a total shutdown of operations without further warning, the association warned.
A crucial statewide meeting of marketers in Awka on Wednesday marked a turning point in the struggle for better working conditions in Anambra State. The gathering ended with a resolute decision to take drastic measures if their demands are not met.
Chinedu Anyaso, the chairman of IPMAN Enugu Depot Community, which encompasses Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu states, addressed journalists, expressing frustration over the association’s repeated pleas for assistance, which have fallen on deaf ears.
Chinedu Anyaso, chairman of IPMAN Enugu Depot Community, highlighted the pressing concerns of Anambra State marketers, including the long-overdue consolidated revenue payable and the unjust pursuit of multiple taxation lawsuits.
Anyaso stressed that these issues violate the agreement between IPMAN and the state government, and demanded swift action to address them.
Chinedu Anyaso, chairman of IPMAN Enugu Depot Community, revealed that the association has been grappling with a long-standing issue of unpaid debts totaling approximately N900 million.
Read also: APC Berates Soludo For Denying Rampant Kidnappings In Anambra
This substantial sum is owed to contractors who supplied diesel for the state’s streetlight projects, leaving them in a precarious financial situation.
Resolution for the demolition of part of the property of Chris Tee Nigeria Limited, a marketer at Trans-Nkissi phase 1 along Onitsha-Otuocha road is among the association’s demands, Anyaso said. Reports said the building was demolished by agents of the government.
He said IPMAN would not issue further notice upon the expiration of the deadline before shutting their outlets.
Anyaso thanked Chief Ken Maduako, a patron of the association, Golden Iloh, member of the Anambra State House of Assembly and representative of the Anambra Internal Revenue Service for their intervention and hoped that the Soludo administration would act on their plea to prevent the threatened industrial action.
He commended Soludo for his efforts at making Anambra a peaceful and liveable state while urging him to make the business environment conducive for investors, especially marketers.
He pledged a positive disposition of the association to continue to support his administration to succeed.
The chairman commended marketers for complying fully to the partial shutdown and attendance to the meeting, saying it was a great show of comradeship.
Transport fare was hiked by the commercial vehicle operators in the state by over 100 per cent during the meeting period by the marketers on Wednesday.
Mr Justin Ndife, a commercial keke operator said the fare hike because the pump price of fuel was sold at N1500 instead of N700.
“We have to pay for the high cost of fuel and push the cost to the commuters, things normalize shortly after the marketers concluded their meeting at about 2 pm on Wednesday,” he said.
